Culinary article.



s. B. HARRIS 0N. CULINARY ARTICLE.

I IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII PT. 222222 9.

972,078. Patented 0ct.4,1910.

SALLIE B. HARRISON, OF MARTIN'SBURG, WEST VIRGINIA.

CULINARY ARTICLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 4., 1910.

Application filed September 23, 1909. Serial No. 519,302.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SALLIn B. HARRISON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Martinsburg, in the county of Berkeley and State of Vest Virginia, have invented a new and useful Culinary Article, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improve ments in culinary implements.

It comprehends the production of a compound implement adapted for use in conjunction with a skillet or the like in frying various articles of food, the principal element of the implement being so constructed as to prevent the sputtering grease, 6., butter, lard or fat), wherein the articles are cooked, from flying over the sides of the skillet onto the stove or range and from occasioning, in consequence, an unsightly appearance and a disagreeable odor. Where the articles to be cooked require molding and draining, or either, the remaining elements of the implement are utilized, and when used are related to and cooperate with each other and with the aforementioned main element to such an extent as to constitute essential parts of the implement considered as a whole.

A structural embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the complete implement, and Figs. 2 and 3 are perspective views, respectively, of the mold element and strainer.

As shown in said drawings, the implement consists of three separately constructed elements indicated by the reference letters A, B and C. The first-mentioned element comprises an open-ended cylindrical body 1 having a handle 2 rigidly attached thereto, said body being preferably constructed of sheet metal. This element, which is illustrated in Fig. 1, constitutes the principal feature of the invention. Its body may have any diameter suitable to the nature and size of the article or articles to be cooked; its height, however, is considerably in excess of that of the side wall of a skillet or frying pan of standard type, (in actual practice, approXimately twice the height of such wall). It is designed to rest upon the bottom of the skillet, illustration of which latter is omitted as being unnecessary.

The strainer C is designed for disposition within the cylindrical member or cylinder 1. It consists of a perforated sheet metal plate 3 formed with a plurality of radiallyextending legs 4-, in the present instance, four, which are bent upwardly and have their free ends out-turned, as indicated by the numeral 5, to provide a beading wherein is fitted an annular wire rim 6, the ends of the Wire being intertwisted to form the handle 7 The legs at may likewise be perforated, and in addition to being bent upwardly, slope slightly outwardly, the distance or space between the longitudinal edges of any two adjacent legs considerably exceeding the width of said legs, while the height of the legs is such that the perforated bottom 3 is maintained an appreciable distance above the lower edge of the cylinder 1 when the strainer is in place therein. The diameter of the wire rim 6 is approximately the same as that of said body 1, by reason of which fact said rim will rest upon the upper edge of the latter, thereby supporting the strainer. To provide a supporting surface of increased area at such point, the edge referred to is folded over upon itself, preferably outwardly, and the lower edge of the body may also be folded upon itself for a similar reason, said folded edges being indicated, respectively, by the numerals 8 and 9.

The mold element B comprises essentially a series of open-ended molds 10 having their vertical walls arranged in mutual contact and suitably connected together; a wire handle 11 straddles said element and has its free ends fastened to certain of the molds, the arrangement of the handle being such as to offer no interference to the introduction of the articles to be cooked into said molds. These molds are preferably, though not necessarily, cylindrical, and their size is de termined by the size of the articles to be introduced thereinto; it may be stated, however, that seven molds are ordinarily made use of, one of these molds being arranged centrally and the remaining molds grouped therearound in the manner shown in Fig. 2, the lower portions of the walls of the outer molds contacting with the strainer legs 4; at certain points, whereby displacement of the mold element is avoided. The legs of the wire which forms the handle 11 may be and preferably are intertwisted to provide a ring-like finger piece 12.

As originally stated, the implement is designed primarily for use in conjunction with a skillet in frying various articles of food in butter, lard or the like. It is a generally accepted fact that grease, when heated, Wlll not of itself, sputter, unless the heat be high enough to cause it to burn; on the other hand, the introduction of any water into the hot grease, even though in comparatively minute quantities, will at once cause sputtering. Hence, where an article to be fried contains a very low per cent. of water, the sputtering will be practically unappreciable, but where the per cent. of water is relatively high, such. as in fish or meat, sputtering is certain to take place, and, under ordinary conditions, to occasion considerable annoyance to the cook. It is to overcome the objectionable features incidental to the sputtering that the present implement, and more especially the main element A thereof, has been devised,

In cooking with the implement, the grease or the like is placed in the skillet in the ordinary manner, after which the cylinder 1 is placed in position within the skillet with its lower edge resting squarely upon the bottom of the latter, thus inclosing the grease therein. If the article to be cooked is of such a nature as to require no molding or straining, it is placed directly in the grease within the cylinder; it may then be readily turned over when necessary without any danger of the sputtering grease flying over the side wall of the cylinder, since said wall is sufliciently high to prevent such action.

Thus it will be readily seen that steaks, ham, fish, oysters and the like may be cooked without occasioning the soiling of the stove top and the objectionable odor caused by the burning grease. Where the articles to be fried require both molding and straining, such as is the case with fritters and eggs, the strainer is inserted within the cylinder as above described, and as shown in Fig. 1, and the mold element then inserted in turn in the strainer; the fritters or eggs are then deposited within the molds 10 upon the floor or base of the strainer and cooked as usual, the mold element being removed when it is desired to turn over the articles, and subsequently reinserted. Much the same process is carried out when the eggs are to be poached instead of fried; in this instance,

however, the implement as a whole is inserted in a skillet or other suitable receptacle containing boiling water. In either case, the strainer and mold element are withdrawn from the skillet at the completion of the cooking and the grease or water allowed to drain off when this has been done, the mold element is removed from the strainer, this leaving the perfectly shaped cooked articles upon the bottom of the latter, from which they may be readily transferred onto a dish by being slid through the spaces between the adjacent strainer legs with the aid of a cake required, the articles may be cooked directly upon the strainer bottom, without necessitating the employment of the molding element.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that while the cylinder constitutes the most important element of the implement, since it is used under all circumstances, yet the strainer and molder are of equal importance where the articles to be cooked require molding and straining, and, further, that when all three elements are employed they mutually aid and assist the operation of each other, inasmuch as the molding and straining devices are arranged within the cylinder and held in place thereby. Moreover, the disposition of the strainer bottom above the bottom of the pan or skillet permits the crumbs of the fritters or oysters to be lifted out when the strainer is removed, thus preventing them from falling into the pan or skillet, a matter of considerable importance where the fat is to be used immediately afterward in cooking food of a different type.

I claim as my invention:

1. A cooking utensil including a strainer and a support therefor, said strainer consisting in its entirety of a perforated bottom member adapted to support the articles to be cooked, said member having a plurality of upstanding legs, and a rim connected to the terminals of the legs, said legs being arranged in spaced relation to each other, to permit said articles to be removed from the strainer through the spaces between adjacent legs when said strainer is withdrawn from its support.

2. A cooking implement comprising an open-ended cylindrical member adapted to rest at its lower edge upon the bottom of a skillet or the like; a strainer arranged within said member and completely removable from the same, said strainer having its upper edge supported upon that of said member; and a molding element removably supported within said strainer upon the bottom of the latter.

3. A cooking utensil consisting, in combination, of an open-ended cylindrical member adapted to rest at its lower edge upon a skillet or the like to inclose the frying fat therein; and a strainer arranged within said member and comprising a perforated plate having upstanding legs, and a wire rim connected to the terminals of said legs and adapted to rest upon the upper edge of said member, for supporting the strainerin place.

June 18, 1909.

SALLIE B. HARRISON. 

